I've just received the following Defence Release E-Mail. Though not related to the Second World War, it is regarding a WW1 wreck somewhere off Rabaul....
Monday, 26 February 2007
NAVY TO SEARCH FOR WRECK OF LOST WWI SUBMARINE
The Royal Australian Navy will conduct a search for the RAN submarine HMAS AE1, which disappeared with its full crew near Rabaul in September 1914, Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence Bruce Billson announced today.
RAN survey vessels HMAS Benalla and Shepparton will search for the submarine during routine survey operations in the vicinity of New Britain, north east of Papua New Guinea, between February 26-28.
Mr Billson said the disappearance of the AE1 is one of our country's most enduring and tragic naval mysteries.
“Sadly, AE1 was lost with her whole crew of 35 officers and sailors onboard, representing the first major Australian loss of WWI. I am hopeful that this search will shed some light on to the whereabouts of the AE1 and provide some answers to the relatives of those brave crew members who were lost while serving our country,” he said.
“The search will be conducted with side scan sonar, which will provide a visual representation of the ocean floor in the search area, and a magnetometer which will detect the presence of metallic items on the ocean floor,” Mr Billson said.
The AE1, along with her sister ship AE2, was commissioned into the RAN at Portsmouth, UK, on 28 February 1914, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Thomas Besant, RN. The two submarines sailed for Australia in March 1914 and arrived at Sydney on 24 May 1914.
On 11 August 1914, just five days after Australia declared war on Germany, AE1 was dispatched from Sydney to support the Australian military operating against the German Army on the island of New Britain.
On 14 September 1914, she disappeared without trace while on patrol on the east coast of the Duke of York Island Group. A brief search was conducted without success.
Investigations since the disappearance have raised the possibility that AE1 sank after either grounding or colliding with a submerged object. Reconstructions of German Fleet movements indicate that it is highly improbable that AE1 was lost due to enemy action.
Commander John Foster RAN (retd), of the group Project AE1, has played an integral role in gathering information over the past 30 years to help locate the ill-fated submarine. In recognition of this, Commander Foster has been invited to observe the navy search.
The following release arrived in my E-Mail yesterday:
NAVY CONCLUDES INITIAL SEARCH FOR WRECK OF LOST WWI SUBMARINE
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has concluded a search for the RAN submarine HMAS AE1, which was lost near Rabaul with its entire crew in September 1914 the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence Bruce Billson said.
The RAN survey vessel, HMAS Benalla, searched for the submarine during a routine survey operation in waters off New Britain in Papua New Guinea over the period 26 to 28 February 2007.
Mr Billson said during a wide search, of an area of interest, Benalla discovered what has been assessed as a large man-made object on the sea floor.
“The object is approximately 25 to 30 metres long and four metres high and in order to protect the site from unauthorised activity, no further details will be released about its position,” he said.
The search was conducted using a towed side scan sonar, as well as hull-mounted survey equipment. The search area was provided to the Navy by the leader of Project AE1, Commander John Foster, RAN (Rtd) who has conducted over 30 years of research into the loss of AE1. Commander Foster was onboard Benalla during the search.
“I must stress that it is far too early to speculate about what the object detected by HMAS Benalla is and further investigation using a remotely operated vehicle with imaging capabilities would be necessary to make a positive identification,” Mr Billson said.
“I am grateful for the assistance of the Government of Papua New Guinea for providing the necessary clearances to conduct this important search. Any future search operations will only be conducted with the full agreement of Papua New Guinea authorities,” he said.
“Locating the AE1 would help solve one of our country’s most enduring naval mysteries. It would also provide some closure to the descendants of the 35 crew members who tragically lost their lives while serving our nation.”
Australia's first submarine which was lost during the outbreak of World War I might have been found off Papua New Guinea.
It has been more than 90 years since Australia's first-ever submarine, the AE1, was last seen near the Duke of York Islands in East New Britain.
The 60-metre sub and its entire crew disappeared during a routine mission in 1914.
Sonar detectors on board Australian Navy ship HMAS Benalla detected an object a similar shape and size to that of the AE1 sub, near Rabaul.
The location has been marked for future investigation and will be kept secret to deter trophy hunters.
Assistant Defence Minister Bruce Billson says he is cautiously optimistic but it is too early to say whether it is the wreck of the AE1.
Mr Billson says special Navy equipment will be sent to the area later this year to check whether the object is the wreck of the missing submarine.
"It's man-made, it's not precisely in the dimensions of the AE1 but given that it's thought to have collided with something that led to its sinking and the rather fierce currents in the area, it could well be AE1," he said.
"But it's too early to speculate about that at this time until further investigations are carried out."
HMAS Yarra (LCDR Sean Andrews) hopes history will repeat itself during their deployment to the north of Australia on Operation Resolute.
Yarra's crew are hoping to be called upon to confirm if the wreck found recently off the coast of New Britain is HMAS AE1, the RAN submarine that mysteriously disappeared in 1914.
OPSO LEUT Jace Hutchison said that the crew was very excited about the possibility of being tasked with identifying the wreck thought to be AE1.
"It would be a case of history repeating itself because Yarra 1, along with Parramatta 1, were the RAN ships that conducted the search for AE1 when she disappeared in WWI."
He said as a fully-mission capable Huon class mine-hunter coastal, Yarra had the technology to determine if the wreck discovered by the RAN survey vessel HMAS Benalla was AE1.
As Navy News reported in the March 8 edition, HMAS Benalla (LCDR Richard Mortimer) may have shed some light on the Navy's most enduring mysteries - the disappearance of AE1 which was lost with all hands.
Benalla discovered what is believed to be a large man-made object on the sea floor during a search for the sub in the vicinity of New Britain from February 26-28.
At the time the Minister Assisting the Minister of Defence, Bruce Bilson, said a further investigation using a remotely operated vehicle with imaging capabilities would be necessary to make a positive identification.
Locating AE1 would provide a degree of closure to the descendants of the 35 crew members who perished when the submarine sank while on patrol duty off the coast of the Duke of York Island Group on September 14, 1914.
AE1, along with her sister ship AE2, was commissioned into the RAN at Portsmouth, UK, on February 28, 1914, under the command of LCDR Thomas Besant, RN. The two submarines sailed for Australia in March 1914 and arrived at Sydney on May 24, 1914.
Well it appears as if what the RAN recently thought may have been the AE1 has been proven incorrect. The following Defence release has just come through my E-Mail:
024/2007 Wednesday, 30 May 2007
LOCATION OF AUSTRALIAN WWI SUBMARINE STILL A MYSTERY
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has determined that the object located by its survey ship HMAS Benalla in February this year is not that of the lost RAN WW1 Submarine HMAS AE1, announced the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson, today.
Hopes of finding AE1 were raised when the Navy survey ship HMAS Benalla identified what was thought to be a man made submerged object using her towed side scan sonar in February of this year. The object was found close to a position provided by AE1 researcher and retired Navy Commander John Foster.
The Coastal Mine Hunter HMAS Yarra conducted a four day search using her mine hunting sonar, divers and the ship’s camera fitted Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to search a 50 sq km area around the position of the object identified by Benalla.
The object detected by Benalla’s sonar was confirmed by the ROV camera to be a submarine shaped rock formation. The complex bottom topography created some significant challenges in the conduct of the search and provided a number of possible objects of interest for Yarra’s ship’s company to investigate. All objects discovered will be further analysed when the camera footage of the underwater search is returned to Australia.
The crew of Yarra conducted a memorial service to commemorate the loss of AE1; this marked the end of the search activity.
‘The search for AE1 represents an important effort to shed some light on an enduring mystery of Australian Navy history,’ Mr Billson said.
‘The Government will continue to support the search for AE1 if credible information about its likely location comes to hand. It is important to provide some comfort to the descendants of the brave crew of the AE1, who gave their lives in the service of their nation.’
Mr Billson also acknowledged the assistance of the Government of Papua New Guinea in permitting this search.
The AE1, along with her sister ship AE2, was commissioned into the RAN at Portsmouth, UK on 28 February 1914 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Thomas Besant, RN. The two submarines sailed for Australia in March 1914 and arrived at Sydney on 24 May 1914.
On 11 August 1914, just five days after Australia declared war on Germany, AE1 was dispatched from Sydney to support the Australian military operating against the German Army on the island of New Britain.
On 14 September 1914, she disappeared without trace while on patrol on the east coast of the Duke of York Island Group. A brief search was conducted without success. Ironically the Navy’s first HMAS Yarra was one of the ships involved in the search in 1914.
Investigations since the disappearance have raised the possibility that AE1 sank after either grounding or colliding with a submerged object.
Reconstructions of German Fleet movements indicate that it is highly improbable that AE1 was lost due to enemy action.
Sadly, AE1 was lost with her whole crew of 35 officers and sailors, representing the first major Australian loss of WWI.
